Here is the latest news from David Gans, producer and host of the Grateful Dead Hour.
Grateful Dead Hour #910
Support for the Grateful Dead Hour comes this week from from Suwannee Springfest, March 23 through 26 at the Spirit of the Suwannee Music Park in Live Oak, Florida. Featured performers include Béla Fleck and the Flecktones, Mavis Staples, Del McCoury Band, Peter Rowan and Tony Rice, Donna the Buffalo, Hot Buttered Rum String Band, and many more. Tickets and more information are available at 904-249-7990 and on the web at www.magmusic.com
The Big Giant Head: pressure builds
Bill O’Reilly has begun a campaign to get MSNBC to fire Keith Olbermann and reinstate Phil Donahue. redheadedwoman reported it on dailykos, including the text of the petition:
February 22, 2006
Chairman Robert Wright
National Broadcasting Company
30 Rockefeller Plaza
New York, New York 10112Dear Chairman Wright:
We, the undersigned, are becoming increasingly concerned about the well-being of MSNBC and, in particular, note the continuing ratings failure of the program currently airing weeknights on that network at 8:00 PM EST.
It is now apparent to everyone that a grave injustice has been done to the previous host for that time slot, Phil Donahue, whose ratings, at the time of his show’s cancellation three years ago, were demonstrably stronger than those of the current host.
Therefore, in an effort to rescue MSNBC from the ratings basement and to restore the honor and dignity of Mr. Donahue, who was ignobly removed as host three years ago, we ask that you immediately bring Phil Donahue’s show back at 8:00 PM EST before any more damage is done.
This is a transparently self-serving campaign couched entirely in altruistic terms, putatively for the good of his competitor. In other words, the present-day Republican Party in a single sentence.
Olbermann’s response, courtesy of Crooks & Liars, is a delight.
I signed the petition as “Hugh R. Kidding-Wright,” joining a slew of others who signed in something other than dead earnest. A friend grabbed some sample signatures from the site before they changed the code to stop displaying the 100 most recent signatures:
She’s A Witch! .. Burn Her! -1
J Jonah Jamison .. Daily Bugle -1
Keith is great !. Shut Up Bill GA
Republicans_hate_science E. Darwin RI
Only I speak the Truth .. https://www.outfoxed.org/ -1
Rightwing_idiots_love_oil Q. Exxon SD
Keith_is_the_Best !. Shut_Up_Bill AR
joseph_goebbels B. Berlin AS
Bwahahahahaha_Billy_about_to_get_canned! H.
maggots_look_better_than_Bill OH
ima n. fauxnews/pravda TX
Are You Going to Talk About us .. On Your little TV “show”? -1
Fire Bill .. Please Fire Bill -1
Keith_is_Great !. Faloofah MT
Fire Bill .. Please Fire Bill -1
Bwahahaha !. Rotfalafel UT
AndreaMackris R. HasYourCash PW
YOU ARE A .. WORTHLESS HUMAN BEING -1
I_Love_Keith ‘. Fire_O;Lielly WI
blotchyskin o. falafelscrub VI
For the Love of God .. Please Fire Bill -1
OLielly_is_a_Fool i. Shut_Up OR
what_a_little_baby_you_are y. please_kill_yourself OH
ORielly_is_a_Crybaby i. Big_Pussy TN
Look At My R. Ratings Drop! NC
South Dakota creates a test case
From morons.org
South Dakota recently passed a bill outlawing most abortions. Now of course such a bill is almost certainly unconstitutional according to court precedent from Roe vs Wade, and the bill is likely to be immediately challenged and prevented from taking effect.
But that’s the idea.
See the same people who whine and complain about black-robe-wearing judicial activist judges who legislate from the bench are the very people who want to get their law in front of a sufficient number of black-robe-wearing judicial activist judges who they hope will legislate from the bench in their favor. Right-wing anti-choice conservatives have picked this fight in South Dakota because they’re hoping that from that district they will find judges who are sympathetic to their cause. What they’re doing is basically judge shopping.
They’ve picked this fight because they’re hoping to get their law challenged all the way to the Supreme Court, where they hope that the now-conservative-slanted court will uphold the law rather than overturn it. Or better still, they’d love to see the Supreme Court uphold their law and reverse the Roe vs Wade decision.
More photos from the southwest
I’m safe at home after a delightful two week tour/vacation in my favorite part of the universe. I attended the Southwest Popular Culture Association meeting with a gang of Deadhead academics; gave performances in venues ranging from a beautiful adobe house to a rowdy bar; and spent four days at the Grand Canyon with my wife, Rita.
Thursday, February 16, was an eventful day in many ways: Rita and I hiked 4.6 miles down the Bright Angel Trail to Indian Gardens, and then of course we had to hike back up. An hour or so after completing that 7-hour adventure, I was onstage in the bar at the Bright Angel Lodge, singing for an audience of tourists, cowboys, and Xanterra employees. Along the way my digital camera and my iPod stopped working (I’m assuming this was related to the near-freezing temperatures, but I’m surprised and annoyed by both problems) and I thought I lost my cell phone. I was afraid to even utter the words “powerbook,” “laptop,” or “computer,” lest that essential device also go bye-bye. But the phone turned up in the back of the Subaru that night, and the computer continues to function perfectly.
The Forester started making a rubbing noise on the drive home Sunday. I just learned that the bearings on both rear wheels need replacement. Sigh.
Here are some photos (by Rita and by me) from our Grand Canyon sojourn. There are more images from this trip and other visits to the region in the “southwest” gallery on my flickr page.
Extra special thanks to Rosie McGee for making our Grand Canyon visit such a pleasure.